LJ b water polo: More photos 10/15

Photos by Ed Piper

Quinn Daniels (3) rises up

to shoot against Hanrui Liu.

LJ b water polo: Photos 10/15

Photos by Ed Piper

Lev Kevorkian (2)

of La Jolla goes vertical

from the 4-5 side.

Junior Quinn Daniels (3) takes aim against

Hanrui Lui (8) of the Knights at the end

of the first half.

 Matthew Shomo (15) and  Ryan Murray (12) move

with the rest of the Vikings at halftime

to the north end of the pool.

The Knights hold halftime at the south end

of the pool, with coaches Doug Peabody

(kneeling, gray and white hat) and Ian Davidson

(black hat, kneeling next to him), the score

11-9 in favor of La Jolla.

All-CIF Dexter Black (4) waits while the

offense starts to move, as J.T. Moss (2)

defends.

LJ b water polo 20, Bishop's 14 - 10/15

Vikings' Quinn Daniels (left, 3) defends

J.T. Moss (2) of Bishop's late in the

second quarter, La Jolla leading

by three.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

The Vikings' two lefties--6'6" Dexter Black and 5'10" Henry Glenister--led the way in scoring as La Jolla flattened Bishop's, 20-14, in the second round of Western League play Wed., Oct. 15, at Bishop's.

Goalkeeper George Gayner effectively blocked the majority of shots by the Knights, who seemed to be shooting from distance and out of rhythm in their offense the first three quarters, when the game was in the balance.

La Jolla built a two-point lead near the end of the first quarter before a big crowd from both schools, and maintained it through the rest of the first half.

After the Vikings won the sprint again to start the third period, Glenister scored on a soft toss, then again after La Jolla worked the ball around in the offense, to lead 13-9. After Knight senior J.T. Moss missed a penalty shot, Black scored to establish the visitors' first five-goal lead, and the rout was on.

Sophomore Quinn Daniels added to the two big stars' scoring. For the big duo, Henry netted six goals when the game was in question, Dexter three.

Coach Tom Atwell's defense wore the Knights down. After La Jolla's Nate Thomson won the sprint to start the fourth quarter, Bishop's didn't seem to have any gas left in the tank, falling from trailing 15-10 to the final margin of six.

After Bishop's coach Ian Davidson sent his subs in with 1:47 left, Atwell employed an entire platoon of reserves the remaining minute.

The separation between the two teams increased with this latest win. On Sept. 24, when they first faced off, La Jolla, playing at home, won by one goal in overtime.

This time, with the six-goal margin, the Vikings (3-1 in league, 18-3 overall) would appear to have widened their ranking edge after winning both direct encounters. Cathedral, La Jolla's final Western League opponent coming Oct. 30, is the final hurdle before postseason playoffs.

The separation among the three elite teams remains close: Cathedral edged the Vikings, 10-9, last week; the Dons only beat the Knights, 12-10, Oct. 7.

LJ FB: Point Loma scaling up the ranks under Price

Romeo Carter of Point

Loma, before La Jolla's game

there Sept. 26.

(Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Among La Jolla's opponents in the Eastern League, Point Loma--coached by former Viking DC Ryan Price--has clobbered two good opponents since taking Coach Tyler Roach's squad down Sept. 26, 37-7.

Last week, in week eight of the 11-game regular season slate, the Pointers defeated Cathedral Catholic, 14-7, which is saying a lot. The Dons have ranked among the elite in San Diego County in the past few years.

The week before, on Oct. 3, Price's club--which features star two-way player Romeo (pronounced ro-may-o) Carter, a wide receiver/safety, a commit to Boise State--took down San Diego High, which has experienced a total revival of fortunes in athletics over the past decade.

Point Loma is ranked seventh currently (Oct. 15) in the Union-Tribune's weekly poll, right up there among the biggies. In recent years, La Jolla has also fallen among the top ten, garnering a number-eight ranking during the season a few years ago.

Pointer QB Ryder Watson (4)

Price, as Defensive Coordinator under Roach, enjoyed a comeback season after not coaching for five years. He had previously been head coach at University City.

Off the "bloom" of La Jolla's successful season in all facets of the game three years ago, Ryan secured the coaching spot at Point Loma, which saw Joel Allen, former Bishop's coach, resign to spend more time watching and working with his children in sports.

Price took a little while to resurrect the program at Point Loma, following Allen's difficult experience recruiting players following COVID. One, classes in person had not been in session on campus, and two, boys attending PLHS weren't familiar with Allen, though he had experienced several successful seasons coaching at Bishop's--including developing Alabama quarterback recruit Ty Buchner.

LJ archives: Erickson a three-sport start in '67-'70

Eric Erickson, Class of 1980,

baseball card for 1982.

(Photos of online image)

By Ed Piper

Jared Stutts, an All-CIF defensive tackle from Lincoln in 1979, said Eric Erickson could play.

"He was a good quarterback," said, Stutts, now an assistant coach for the Hornet football team, before the Viking-Lincoln game Fri., Oct. 10. "I kept in touch with him when I played at Mesa College (1980-1981), but then I lost track of him."

Regarding the outcome of the game between Lincoln and La Jolla his senior year, a close Hornet win, 15-14, Stutts said, "We beat them. It wasn't a butt-whipping."

Did Erickson (6'4", 200 pounds) have a good offensive line to protect him? "Not really." As a lineman trying to get to the La Jolla quarterback, Stutts noted that the Hornet football team that year was the only one in the history of the school that has gone undefeated (7-0 in the Western League, 12-0 overall).

They will feted at Homecoming at Lincoln this coming Friday night, Oct. 16.

In fact, La Jolla tied with Lincoln for first place in the Western League in 1979 under Coach Gene Edwards, though losing their head-to-head game during league play, as well as a playoff game to the Hornets, 39-22, at San Diego (later Jack Murphy and Qualcomm) Stadium. The Vikings were 10-2 for the season.

Stutts went on to play after Mesa at UTEP (Texas El Paso), cracked two vertebrae his senior year of college, and didn't go into the NFL.

One reason Jared wasn't able to keep contact with Erickson was because the latter also played baseball well. In fact, he was a pretty good basketball player, averaging 16 points a game during his senior season.

Erickson, a member of the La Jolla High Baseball Hall of Fame, went on to play professionally.

Erickson's baseball card

for 1987.

The Class of 1980 graduate had 193 and 283 plate appearances, hitting .269 and .208, respectively, for Great Falls (Montana) and Clinton (Iowa) in his first two years in the Giants' organization--the initial season, in rookie ball. After that, he had few plate appearances.

But as a southpaw on the mound, Eric threw from the beginning, and played seven seasons in the minors, including one in independent ball. His best statistical seasons were 4-2 records as a 25-year-old for Lynchburg, Virginia, in the Carolinas League, single A level, and years later as a 33-year-old, when he came back from injuries (after a six-year hiatus) to play one more season for Palm Springs in independent ball.

His heaviest workload came in 1986, as a 24-year-old, when he pitched 135 2/3 innings for Fresno in the California League, in single A. His ERA that season was 5.44. Erickson started 21 games that season, and appeared in six others.

He recorded 10 saves the year before, for Clinton in the Midwest League.

Says Gary Frank, head coach of the Viking baseball program, "Eric is one of the all-time multi-sport athletes to come out of La Jolla. He is in the conversation with Rick Eveleth, Malaika Underwood, and Peter Sefton for best all-around athlete to come out of La Jolla in the past 60 years."

Frank, an avid historian of the La Jolla High baseball program, along with his father, Howard Frank, added, "Until the Zimmers (Bradley and Kyle) got drafted in the first round, he was the highest-drafted Viking of all time. He is still the highest (draftee) taken out of high school."

Otherwise, Gary said, "(Erickson, a lefthanded pitcher) played in the minor leagues and got hurt, so he walked away. He took a few years off, and was playing on an adult team with Bob Allen (retired La Jolla High teacher/athlete)--and he decided to give it another go.

"He got signed and made it all the way to Triple A, before injuries ended his career again."

LJ Cheer: @ LJ-Lincoln FB 10/10

Photos by Ed Piper

LJ FB 3, Lincoln 54 - 10/10

Taylor Jeffery (3) of La Jolla makes a good return

up the left sideline of the opening kick by Lincoln

Fri., Oct. 10.

(Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

In the eighth week of the 2025 season, La Jolla ran into a juggernaut, highly-ranked Lincoln High, in a non-league encounter at home Fri., Oct. 10.

The occasion was the first return to campus of former Viking head coach Jason Carter, who guides the Hornets as Associate Head Coach and who coached La Jolla for four seasons from 2012-2015.

In the first quarter, the Vikings (now 4-3) were able to present enough looks on offense to make the Hornets think a little, and slow them down before they got into a rhythm.

First, tight end/defensive end Nico Bardaro lined up at quarterback, and as Defensive Coordinator Randy Cowell commented before the game, there were some "packages" that head coach Tyler Roach had prepared for him. It was the first time this season Bardaro has started a game at the central position.

Another look, and one that, by now, Roach has used many times this season, featured freshman quarterback Ty Tortorice (replacing banged-up starting QB Huddy Smith) in a traditional formation in shotgun.

Thirdly, another setup that has become familiar--and even more productive--for La Jolla this season positioned sophomore Aiden Farrell carrying the ball at running back.

Carson Diehl (13) takes a pass reception from

Ty Tortorice 11 yards on second-and-20

to the Lincoln 21-yard line. Two plays later,

Julian Zavala kicked a 34-yard field goal

for a brief 3-0 lead at the end

of the first quarter.

Fleet receiver Carson Diehl once again lined up in the wildcat, taking snaps directly  from center. But Roach went to that only after trying the other alternatives.

At first, Bardaro's running, mixed with handoffs to Farrell, kept the game low-scoring. La Jolla eked out a 3-0 lead--the only  time the hosts would lead the whole evening--on a 34-yard field goal by Julian Zavala with a minute left in the first quarter.

But then shaky hands, and eroding confidence, seemed to hit the Vikings. That compounded the problems of Lincoln's onslaught, which included human but rather large people like guard Kiemon Green, weighing 320 pounds, and freshman Major Tala, 330 pounds.

Senior running back Junior Curtis began to get some room to stretch his legs, and first scored for the Hornets on a seven-yard plunge beginning the second quarter for a 6-3 Lincoln lead. That began the first of 54 unanswered points.

Curtis scored again two elapsed minutes later for a 12-3 advantage.

Then disaster struck the Vikings, when lineman Jamari Sherell picked up a loose ball coughed up by the La Jolla offense and ran it back 45 yards for the TD and an 18-3 lead. That came with 3:42 left in the half.